Reform politician's racist Chinese slur 'caused a lot of hurt'

Laura Anne Jones defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK over the summer

A racist slur used by a Reform politician has "caused a lot of hurt", members of the Chinese community in Wales have said.

Laura Anne Jones, the party's only Welsh Parliament member, returns to the Senedd chamber on Wednesday after she was banned for two weeks for using a racial slur to describe Chinese people in a WhatsApp chat in August 2023.

It meant her pay was docked and she could not take part in proceedings in the Welsh Parliament.

The Chinese in Wales Association (CIWA) welcomed the action taken by the Senedd but said the term Jones used carried "deeply hurtful and racist connotations" and it was "deeply disappointing to hear such language from an elected representative".

Warning: This story contains language that some may find offensive

After being hit with the punishment, Jones apologised for what she called "regrettable comments" in a "private message".

Speaking on 19 November, Jones said she and her staff had completed Senedd respect and conduct training and she had "actively been in contact and helped the community that is being referred to".

She added: "I have reflected deeply on this and I wholly accept the need to take greater care with my language at all times."

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called it a "pretty minor offence".

"Compared to what happens in public life and the mistakes that people make in their everyday lives what she's done is a pretty minor offence. Now she's been quite harshly punished for it," he said.

"She used a word that colloquially probably was meant in a nice way 20 years ago."

He added that Jones had "absolutely made a mistake".

Shirley Au-Yeung, founder and CEO of CIWA, said Jones's remark was "very upsetting", especially coming from a politician.

"This word is sometimes used without people fully understanding its impact, but public figures should be especially mindful of the harm such language can cause.

"We don't want to live in a society where racially derogatory language is normalised or dismissed."

In August 2023, Jones, then a Conservative Member of the Senedd, used the slur in a WhatsApp group in response to a discussion about TikTok - at the time, there were fears the Chinese government could use the app to spy.

Jones, who defected to Reform in July and represents South Wales East, also referred to an ex-staffer as "a wanker" and a "bitter, twisted, useless person" in the group chat.

The number of residents in Wales identifying as Chinese in 2021 was 14,000, according to census data.

Outside of Cardiff, Swansea has the highest proportion of Chinese people in Wales.

Yan Wu is a professor in media communications at Swansea University and has been studying Chinese immigration in Europe since 2005.

She said Chinese immigration to the UK had been through three phases since the end of World War Two.

Post-war Britain attracted immigrants to address labour shortages and shifting consumer demands while the late 1970s saw students and scholars coming for education.

Since 2000, Chinese immigrants further diversified, including political dissidents, naturalised citizens, economic immigrants and Chinese medical practitioners, as well as "a number of migrants from Hong Kong," said Prof Wu.

Reform's only Welsh Parliament member, Laura Anne Jones was banned from the Senedd chamber for 14 days on 19 November

Ms Au-Yeung, from Swansea, said "many ethnically Chinese people born in Wales have shared that their Welsh identity can feel questioned at times because of how they look".

She added: "People look at their face and think they are migrants. They feel they are Welsh but other people question and this hurts them so much.

"We don't use this word in our language. It exists in English, there is no direct translation.

"This term has historically been used in negative and racist contexts, and its impact is still felt deeply."

Foo Seng, advocacy lead at CIWA said: "By using that word you are telling the public that it is OK to use that word to talk about the Chinese community.

"The upset we feel is difficult to express, but it just is demeaning."

Angela Hui, author of Takeaway: Stories From Behind the Counter, said it was a word that "might look harmless to someone on the outside... but for a lot of east and South East Asian people in the UK, it's a word that cuts to the core".

The 34-year-old from Beddau, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said using language such as this "teaches people that it's fair game to use that word and to mock".

She added: "It encourages people to ignore our struggles, dismissing pain and discrimination as 'banter' instead of racism.

"So when people defend it as 'didn't mean any harm', 'joking around', 'just what everyone says', they miss that the issue was never simply a word but how it shaped the way others treated us.

"Many of us grew up in a system that taught us to stay quiet, to swallow our hurt and dismiss our personal and shared experiences. So when 'little things' like the c-word is being thrown around so casually in messages it piles up and turns into something bigger."

She added that, time and time again, elected politicians have made inappropriate and offensive comments, so "it's nothing new and unsurprising".

"We should be actively calling out racism because it is wrong, no matter who it's aimed at."

Jones's suspension was imposed by fellow Members of the Senedd and it stopped her taking part in proceedings for two weeks as well as docking her pay

Ms Au-Yeung said she did not think Jones acknowledged the impact her language had: "I recognise this has been difficult for her, but it is also important to acknowledge the experiences of Chinese community members who face this negative language in their daily lives. Many continue to suffer in silence."

She added that she was glad to see the Welsh government addressing the issue, and hoped this would show people that it was unacceptable.

"We need to make sure people are educated and understand the upset this word causes and ultimately stop using it."

CIWA said Jones's suspension served as "an important reminder that racism must be taken seriously, especially by those in positions of public trust".

"We hope that this incident serves as a catalyst for deeper reflection within political parties and the Senedd on the cultures, norms and practices that allow racist language to surface in the first place."

It added that the organisation welcomed an invitation from the Senedd to engage in a conversation over this incident and related issues.

BBC Wales approached Reform UK and Laura Anne Jones, but both declined to comment and instead referred to her statement made in the Senedd.